U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from Feb. 1-6, the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

The US has begun deporting migrants to Guatemala, with two military planes carrying 80 Guatemalans arriving Friday in the Central American country. The move marks the start of President Donald Trump administration’s massive operation to deport migrants.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino has a message for Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of his impending diplomatic visit: The Panama Canal is not up for discussion. “It’s impossible,” Munilo said in Spanish at a press conference in Panama City on Thursday.

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino has ruled out negotiations with the US over ownership of the Panama Canal as he prepares to Marco Rubio.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Central America for his first trip as the top US diplomat. Rubio is expected to depart late next week for Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will likely travel to Central America in the first week of February, a source familiar with the planning said.

By Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.

Rubio's stop in Panama also comes as Trump in recent weeks has said he wants the Panama Canal back under U.S. control, claiming that “American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way,

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as America’s chief diplomat. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Thursday that Rubio will also make stops in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and ...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Panama — the country whose canal President Donald Trump has suggested he’d seize — as early as next week, according to three U.S. officials briefed on the plan.

Mr Rubio will visit Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to Central America and the Caribbean. That is welcome news for smaller countries that typically struggle to get the attention of Washington. Usually, new secretaries of state reserve their first overseas visits for major US allies in Europe or Asia.